Apologies if I've said this before (I've not checked) but here's something that really irks me, and it's on my mind because someone in class raised it today. People here often blame something I think of as "useless" or "backwards" on China being a "developing country". Well here's the problem: YOU HOSTED THE OLYMPIC GAMES. You might not have done a very good job of it (urgh, don't get me started on Chinese mentality, one example springs to mind of a stadium that was less than packed despite propaganda saying all tickets were sold out; someone complained and the organisers' response was, "Okay tomorrow there will be people, we will find as many uni students as possible, they will be there, and they will be chanting GO GO BEIJING, GO OLYMPICS GO!" When countered with the obvious, "But that's not very spontaneous or exciting" they nonplussed reply went something like, "There will be people there, they will be chanting, they will be excited, what's the problem?"), but you hosted them nonetheless.
China defines itself as a developing country. It leans on this crutch wherever possible. Its schoolchildren are raised to counter queries about the retarded aspects of life here with that as a standard response. I call bullshit. That or China needs to stop lying and accept that it cannot be a developing country if it has hosted the Olympic Games (on this note please do not get me started on why the UK has it for 2012 - yes we are technically "developed" but I think this is a false appearance and that a country really ought to be able to look after its own before taking the masses of others for a sporting event; granted we're not as bad as China though!)
Well it's that or someone in the IOC needs to admit they made one hell of a mistake giving China the games!
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On probably over 20 occassions I've come really close to saying 中国已经举行了奥运会但中国人还是这么不文明呢？ when someone does something like cutting lines or almost spitting on me. I don't know why I stop myself actually.
Haha Vincent that just made me laugh, I may have to remember that for future. Like when they pile on buses with no sense of a queue, or when I find myself face-to-armpit on an underground line (am heading to Shanghai next week, I hate that city).
I feel much better that I'm not alone in my thoughts!
H
personally I cannot help but bring up the fact that 5,000 years of culture doesn't marry up too well with the queue cutting, while telling the offender to get behind me.....
...but it only serves to make me enemies
Siv, I didn't even know you were still alive! Changed number or something? I've tried messaging you in the past and never got a reply but put it down to you being busy. When I'm back from the south (late Feb / early March) we must meet up!
Yes, they do bang on about having a long and lustrous culture, I suppose they forget to mention the most recent bit where some tosser destroyed it all (circa 1950)
One of the girls from my uni who was in China last year said that in her first month (she was in Beijing I think) she found herself shouting at a whole bunch of Chinese people (in a post office / bank / similar) to make a queue and stop shoving, which they did (perhaps too surprised to argue back), until about 3 minutes later she realised this was not her country and maybe she was being out of order ... they didn't seem to mind though!
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